CDS Home Services

Description of Work: Electrical outlets not working on the outside of the house as well as the bathrooms. Which they thought would be a simple ground fault breaker problem turned out to be much more involved. Bottom line, both of the CDS techs work hard, were curtious and resolved the issue.

Description of Work: CDS : -Provided consulting on generator sizing -Ordered, delivered and sited 10KW generator -Installed transfer switch and rerouted circuits -Managed all permits and inspections -Initialized settings and tested generator

Description of Work: After the last major power outage in June 2012, which cost my family the loss of 2 freezers worth of food in addition to the 2 refrigerators that we also have, my wife and I decided enough was enough and we would install an Emergency Standby Generator. We also did not like sitting in a hot house without A/C and lighting and without TV, and our computers, etc., etc. Should have done this 5 years ago but I am a little stubborn at times. After some initial investigation and estimates we called CDS regarding the installation of a "whole house" - 20Kw Natural Gas Air Cooled Standby Emergency Generac Generator for our home in Montgomery County, MD. Our selection of CDS was based on discussions and subsequent recommendations with a number of business associates and social acquaintances that I had a great deal of confidence in their candid opinions. Concentrate of the following areas: READ THE CONTRACT: The CDS contract document that you will be required to sign is straight-forward although the clause about change orders and cost for change orders is somewhat confusing. I asked to have the contract modified in a few areas and CDS was readily accommodating in this matter. Main problem was that the contract did not discuss what was to be used as the basis of design which in fact instituted a change to the base design. As I said, they were very accommodating regarding the contract. PAYMENT: Can only address on CDS but they do separate the payments into 3 phases. 1/3 at contract sign, 1/3 at unit delivery and 1/3 after installation but prior to electrical inspection which is the last action that takes place. PLAT OF YOUR HOMESITE: For some reason CDS was unable to obtain the plat for my property at the Montgomery County Zoning Office and it became necessary for me to go down to the Zoning office in Rockville to get the plat so that CDS could then draw down an Electrical Permit. Not sure why they were unable to obtain the plat where I was able to obtain the plat easily in less than an hour. If you have to go down there, one (1) hour is a short time. HIGH dB NOISE LEVEL: The GENERAC 20Kw generator does not meet the Montgomery County Environmental Office maximums for dB noise levels. I would also offer that other sized generators do not meet the mandatory dB levels either. NEITHER DO THE GENERATORS FOR OTHER MANUFACTURERS. These dB ratings need to be ~70dB during the day and no louder than ~55dB at night. This is not a problem if you and your neighbors understand that Standby Generators make noise but that Emergency Standby Generators only run during emergencies, i.e., no power from the electric utility. It might also be prudent to offer a piece pipe to the neighbors, e.g., an available 120V 15amp outlet for their refrigerator and/or freezer. This will not impact your generator capacity. As I found out during the process, the only things that really have a major impact on generator capacity is the 220V usage. I have a lot of Computers and TV's and microwaves on 120V lines that can substantiate this little know fact. NON-COOPERATIVE NEIGHBOR: Unfortunately my next door neighbor did not want the noise regardless of what I offered them, including their own 15amp electrical connection, connected to my home, and it became necessary for me to build a noise abatement fence around the generator. If you need to build a fence or enclosure, remember, you need a permit, at least if you live in Montgomery County. There are different zoning issues if the fence is over 6' 6'' vs. lower than 6'6". All of this information is also available on-line on Montgomery Counties website. REGULATIONS, ORDINANCES AND RULES: What I did find out is that there are a lot of rules and ordinances in Montgomery County regarding noise with respect to measurment of noise and distances from property lines, etc. All of these rules are available for the home-owner, and to the CDS' of the world, to download from Montgomery County'a web site. You can access the documents and ordinances via looking up "generators, montgomery county, md" through google or any other search engine. Unfortunately I found out about the ordinances after the location installation by CDS, i.e., just after my encounter with my neighbor regarding the noise level. I am now, although unsolicited, an expert on generator noise, noise abatement material, fencing and more recently acceptable sound absorbing material flame retardation as published by National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA). While this fence does the job, the $10,000.00 estimated cost for CDS' efforts does not include the cost of labor and material in the construction of the noise abatement enclosure fence. CLEARANCES: i strongly recommend that if you are installing a permanent generator, that you either download your specific generator user manual or have your contractor provide the pages regarding clearance requirements from homes, windows, overhangs, etc. to accomodate exhausts fumes and heat. Additionally, I would be present on the day that the unit is delivered to insure that the clearances are met since too close could cause problems during long outages where the generator is running for long periods of time. All manufacturer user manuals are on line and are easily downloadable. USE OF NATURAL GAS: If you use natural gas for the generator you will need to install a larger gas meter supplied by the Utility. CDS took care of the ordering and installation of this new meter and hopefully whoever you use will do the same. There is an additional cost for this larger meter. I was told that this was $399 although in all honesty I have not seen the charge on my gas utility bill. My estimated monthly gas use payments have increased and I assume that this is based estimated anticipated generator use rather than actual use.

Description of Work: They installed a generator for me.

Description of Work: They installed a generator.

Description of Work: They installed a back up generator.

Description of Work: They intstalled a generator.

Description of Work: They installed a back up generator.

Description of Work: Delivery and Installation of a 7500 KW portable generator.

Description of Work: Deliver and Install a 20Kw home electic generator. Arrange for all appropriate permits and inspections.

Description of Work: I hired this company to service a home generator.

Description of Work: emergency generator installed in home.

Description of Work: Installed Generac 17 KW generator.

Description of Work: They installed a generator.

Description of Work: They installed an emergency generator.

Description of Work: They installed a generator.

Description of Work: They installed a generator.

Description of Work: I usually service my standby generator myself to save money. What I do consists of changing the oil and filter and cleaning battery terminals every six months. However, I have A CDS technition check it evry two years. Thesix month service if done by their service contract is expensive, but they are prompt and do a good job. I had them install the generator several years ago, and they did an excellent job. The wiring was neatly done and eveyrthing worked from the start. I highly recommend them if you are not a do it yourselfer for simple things like changing oil and filters. But if you are not handy and have CDS service your generator with the service contract, it will insure that your generator works when you need it. This Aug. it was due for CDS to check it out, and they did a complete check. I recommend them.

Description of Work: Contracted with CDS via the Home Depot to have a whole house generator installed. This project took about 1 month to complete, once the generator arrived. Steps that were taken before the generator itself came -- appropriate permits acquired, new electrical box installed (which connected to the generator itself), new gas meter (done by Washington Gas contractor) installed, new gas line from meter to generator outside installed, and outside base for generator built.

Description of Work: CDS initially came at my request to measure up and estimate for a full, natural gas powered 17KVA standby emergency generator system at my house. But after surveying and measuring they discovered that due to regulations, I had no place to install the generator outside my home due to clearances from windows or my A/C condenser unit. I was disappointed but the rep offered to do a "turn-key" full install of transfer switch and plug-in connection if I bought a portable generator (they did not sell the portable type). He explained the electrical load capacities that were required and how much generator I needed to buy to provide the power I wanted. I agreed to that offer and the next week I purchased a 6500 Watt portable generator from a local supplier. Once I had the generator, CDS was scheduled to come out and perform the installation on Friday 10/28. CDS electricians arrived in the morning on 10/28, and spent the next 5 hours installing the "turn-key" generator power distribution system in my home. The installation included a heavy duty transfer switch built into a new 12-circuit subpanel in my basement next to the main electrical load center. From that they ran a heavy 10-3 cable to a generator connector box on the rear exterior wall of my house. The installation allows me to plug in my portable generator while it is in the driveway using a 30 ft cable that CDS also provided that fits my Honda generator's 30A 240V outlet. Once the generator is running I can go down to the basement and throw the transfer switch and presto! Eight of my 120V 20A circuits in the home have power. CDS helped me determine which circuits I could connect to the generator power, including the refrigerator, the gas forced air furnace, the kitchen microwave and room circuits (outlets and overhead lights) in all three floors of my home. CDS made sure that several "multi-circuits - where my home builder's original electrician used a cost-saving (that's the polite term….) method of running only one neutral for two adjacent circuits - were not split up in the generator panel, because that would cause problems and potential code violations. The electricians were both very professional and their work looks great - all wiring is visually neat, all circuits were tested and labeled. The circuits that they moved into the new generator-powered subpanel were red-marked in the original panel so as to be obviously not used in there. They had me start my generator, plug it into the new outlet on the back of the house, and then they taught me how to throw the transfer switch over to generator power, and then back to our utility power when service was restored.

Description of Work: I used the service of CDS Electric / CDS Emergency Power Services about three days ago for a generator of 20 KW and 90 feet of cable.

Description of Work: CDS Electric/CDS Emergency Power Services gave me an estimate for generator 2 weeks ago. I am looking at their proposal.

Description of Work: My washing machine was not on its own circuit and I needed it moved to the one remaining open slot on the main panel. I went to Home Depot and arranged for this. CDS called and scheduled an appointment. The technician arrived on time and determined the open slot was blocked by one of the main wires from the meter. He also noted that the panel was an old split bus which has been attributed to fires in certain cases. He gave me a written proposal for $1300 to replace the old 26 slot panel with a new 36 slot. I was concerned that the box would exceed the opening in the finished basement wall so he took measurements. I mentioned that even a 32 slot panel would be good and that there was a 4 outlet box under the panel that could go to free up space. I asked about permits and he said that they would take care of all permits (Fairfax County, VA). I checked Angie’s List and noted a number of positive comments. (Now that I look again most of these are from the same day - 9/9/2011). Around 9/14 I called the CDS Baltimore office and scheduled an appointment for 9/26. I was told the name of the electrician at that time. I called again a few days before this to insure that the measurements were passed to the new electrician since I didn’t want a lot of work to fix the finished basement wall. I left a message and asked to be called back. I wasn’t called back. The next day I called again, spoke to a lady on a different extension and was told that they would have everything they needed when they arrived.

Description of Work: I had them come out and give us an estimate on installing a back up generator.

Description of Work: They gave me an estimate on a standby generator.